Chapter 21
I Am Batman!
Henry had almost forgotten he was here to watch a circus performance.
But he hadn’t expected a clown to come knocking so soon.
And it seemed the clown was here specifically for Sherisa.
“Is Miss Sherisa here?”
“What do you want with her?”
Henry blocked the clown’s line of sight, not wanting him to interact with Sherisa.
What a joke—a clown showing up at their door? Henry knew exactly what the clown was after!
No doubt he wanted to latch onto Sherisa, the wealthy heiress!
How could Henry possibly let his beloved sugar mommy—ahem—Sherisa fall into someone else’s hands?
“My name is Joker, the star of the circus. I’ll be performing the finale later, and I heard Miss Sherisa was visiting, so I wanted to introduce myself.”
“No need for introductions. Sherisa doesn’t like interacting with strangers.”
“And you are…?”
“I’m Batman!”
With that, Henry unceremoniously slammed the door shut.
The clown, who had come to pay his respects to Sherisa, was left standing there, looking even more like a fool.
After closing the door, Henry let out a sigh of relief—only to turn around and find Sherisa staring at him with a teasing smirk.
“Oh? Seems like you really don’t want anyone getting close to me.”
“No, I’m just preventing unnecessary interactions. Given your status, it’s only natural people would have ulterior motives.” Henry spoke righteously, his words dripping with concern for Sherisa.
Sherisa didn’t call him out on his act, humming a little tune as she turned her attention back to the performance below. Clearly, she was in a good mood.
*****
“Well? Did you see the Noel family’s young lady?”
As Joker walked into the dressing room, a limping man emerged from behind the mirror.
The man hobbled over to a chair and sat down. Behind him lay the corpse of a makeup artist.
“No, her bodyguard blocked me.”
The mere thought of Henry’s face made Joker furious!
If not for that meddlesome guy, he would’ve memorized Sherisa’s face by now!
His mission here was simple: kidnap Sherisa.
As the sole daughter of the empire’s wealthiest merchant family, the Noels, her ransom would be astronomical.
Several of his associates had infiltrated the circus, and they’d already successfully kidnapped numerous wealthy merchants along the way.
But this time, targeting the Noel family required extreme caution!
“No matter. Once the show starts, I’ll invite her on stage. That’s when you can grab her and make your escape.” The limping man sounded confident.
But Joker was still uneasy.
“The Noel family has guards stationed everywhere outside. Are you sure we can pull this off?”
“Hmph, don’t worry about that. There’s a hidden passage under the stage with multiple branching paths. We just need to escape through the sewers. After that, the money will be ours for the taking.”
Hearing the limping man’s certainty, Joker’s nerves settled slightly.
Still, he couldn’t help but ask one more question.
“You won’t kill anyone else, right?”
He glanced at the lifeless body of the makeup artist behind him, feeling a wave of nausea.
When he first arrived, he never expected things to escalate like this.
The limping man claimed to have inside knowledge of Sherisa’s movements and proposed a plan to kidnap her for a hefty ransom.
But in the middle of their discussion, the makeup artist had barged in at the worst possible moment.
At first, Joker hadn’t planned to kill the man, but the limping man slit the makeup artist’s throat without hesitation, watching him die in agony.
The cruel smile on the limping man’s face made one thing clear: if Joker refused to cooperate, he’d be next.
Now that he was on this sinking ship, he had no choice but to see it through. He wasn’t about to die for nothing.
“Kill? That depends. If someone gets in our way, what else can we do?”
The limping man’s expression turned bloodthirsty, his eyes bordering on madness.
Joker swallowed hard and decided not to press further.
*****
The grand stage was alive with acrobatic performances.
High above, several trapeze artists swung through the air, performing daring feats.
Henry had seen plenty of trapeze acts before—some even higher than this—but with one key difference: none of those performers survived.
Then there were the animal acts.
The trained beasts showed no trace of their wild instincts. The lions were as docile as house cats.
At one point, a performer even stuck his hand into a lion’s mouth, sending the audience into a frenzy of screams.
The show was entertaining, but Sherisa seemed utterly bored, as if such performances held no appeal for her.
She rolled over and casually laid her head on Henry’s lap.
“How dull. Do people really pay exorbitant prices to watch something this boring?”
It was hard to fathom Sherisa’s perspective.
For most children, these acts would be thrilling.
But for someone like Sherisa, raised in unimaginable luxury, circus performances were probably old news before she was even born.
Someone who dined on lobster and abalone daily wouldn’t bat an eye at such delicacies.
In short, Sherisa was only here to accompany Henry.
“Isn’t it nice to just relax sometimes? Life doesn’t need to be all about excitement.”
Henry’s mouth was stuffed with lobster, making him look like a starving beggar.
Sherisa watched him devour food like a wild boar, her brow twitching in irritation.
Had this guy never eaten before? The table looked like it had been ravaged by a tornado, with even the plates licked clean.
“Henry, be honest with me. After being expelled from the Rumelter family, what kind of life do you want?”
Sherisa’s question was serious.
She wanted to know Henry’s true aspirations!
“Simple. I want a sugar mommy to take care of me. After all, behind every successful woman is a man who supports her!”
Henry patted his kidney, looking supremely confident in his… assets.
“Fine. Then tell me, what exactly happened between you and Her Highness the Princess the other night?”
This was Sherisa’s real goal.
The Magic Knights had only given her vague answers, but asking the man himself was another matter entirely.
Henry paused mid-bite, locking eyes with Sherisa.
Sherisa didn’t back down, as if she wouldn’t let this go until she got an answer.
“Nothing much. Just solved a case, killed some cultists. No big deal.”
Henry’s tone was casual, but Sherisa could practically smell the arrogance radiating off him.
This guy… had he been waiting for her to ask this question the whole time?
Just as Sherisa was about to press for details, the entire venue suddenly plunged into darkness.
A single spotlight then illuminated the stage.
The clown from earlier stood center stage, next to a magician’s box.
“For our next act, we’d like to invite a lucky audience member to join us on stage!”
The clown handed a lottery box to someone in the audience.
The person drew a colored ball, and the number on it corresponded to a VIP box.
“Looks like our lucky guest is from Box No. 1! Would you care to come down and participate?”
Inside the box, Sherisa narrowed her eyes at the clown below.
Meanwhile, Henry let out a satisfied burp.
“Dessert and a show? This is too good! I’ll go, I’ll go!”